NRL star Jai Arrow’s wife has settled a legal claim against her employer after being suspended on the day she returned from maternity leave.
Berina Colakovic was stood down from her position as director of sales at AI advertising company StackAdapt just days after her husband was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Ms Colakovic, who married South Sydney Rabbitohs and Queensland forward Arrow in July, took StackAdapt to the Federal Court, alleging she had been discriminated against and denied procedural fairness.
StackAdapt denied unlawfully suspending Ms Colakovic or taking adverse action against the mother-of-one, arguing that complaints made by other staff members supported its decision.
In July, Justice Craig Lenehan directed Ms Colakovic and StackAdapt to attend mediation. The discussions were held in late September.
Court records show the proceedings were finalised on October 15, although the terms of the settlement have not been made public.
StackAdapt was approached for comment, while Maurice Blackburn, the law firm that represented Ms Colakovic, declined to comment.
NRL star Jai Arrow’s wife, Berina Colakovic, has settled a lawsuit against her employer after she was suspended from work on the day she returned from maternity leave. The couple is pictured with their daughter, Ayla Rae Arrow.
Berina Colakovic was stood down from her role as director of sales at AI advertising platform StackAdapt days after her husband, pictured left, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. The couple is pictured at their second wedding in Sicily earlier this month.
A spokesman for Dentons, which represented StackAdapt, said: ‘The proceedings have been resolved, and it would not be appropriate for us to comment.’
Ms Colakovic joined StackAdapt as a customer success manager in Canada in April 2019. She moved to Australia in February 2022 and was promoted to director of sales in July 2024.
Documents lodged in the Federal Court by Maurice Blackburn alleged that a StackAdapt superior had ‘threatened’ Ms Colakovic in September that year.
The 31-year-old alleged she was told she would face ‘performance discussions’ unless she could ‘turn the business around’ by making ‘organisational changes ASAP’.
According to her claim, those changes included dismissing two employees in circumstances Ms Colakovic believed could have been unlawful. She subsequently raised her concerns with the company’s human resources department.
The following month, Ms Colakovic told StackAdapt she was pregnant and due to give birth to her first child with Arrow in April 2025.
She was allegedly advised that StackAdapt would organise cover for her role while she took paid and unpaid maternity leave, which began in March last year.
On March 27, 2025, the superior who Ms Colakovic alleged had threatened her announced in a company Slack message that a new director of sales had been appointed.
‘It’s not just about the money, but the principle,’ Ms Colakovic said of her Federal Court action. ‘I have seen it before where women are replaced or demoted while on maternity leave.’
The Daily Mail understands Ms Colakovic’s claim included an allegation that the Slack announcement did not identify her or state that the incoming director of sales was covering her maternity leave.
Ms Colakovic had initially planned to return to work in September 2025, five months after giving birth, but later extended her leave until May 1 this year.
In early April, StackAdapt’s ‘people business partner’ allegedly told her she would resume work in the director of sales position.
Two days later Ms Colakovic was allegedly told she would still be returning as director of sales but an existing investigation into her workplace conduct would resume and her team would no longer be reporting to her.
Ms Colakovic was subsequently instructed not to come in at her usual 9am start time on May 1 but to attend a midday meeting at which she was suspended.
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She was directed not to contact colleagues, clients or other stakeholders while a disciplinary process was conducted, and a date was set for another meeting.
‘I had no idea what the complaints were against me,’ Ms Colakovic told News Corp in August.
‘When I was told, they were vague, lacking detail and I believe no basis for suspension.’
Jai Arrow is embraced by his wife after running onto Accor Stadium in western Sydney for his 100th NRL game with the Rabbitohs on September 4
Maurice Blackburn contacted StackAdapt three days later, describing Ms Colakovic’s suspension as an ambush and claiming she had been denied procedural fairness.
Arrow, who played for South Sydney, the Gold Coast Titans and Brisbane Broncos, announced his retirement from the NRL on May 20, after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease in April.
Ms Colakovic, who remained employed and continued to be paid while suspended, launched her Federal Court action on June 2.
‘It’s not just about the money, but the principle,’ she said.
‘I have seen it before where women are replaced or demoted while on maternity leave.
‘It’s wrong and I don’t want [daughter] Ayla to grow up in a world where this can happen.
‘It would be easy to avoid the stress of fighting what’s happened to me, especially at this time, but to me it is wrong and my fight is about discrimination in the workforce.’
StackAdapt denied Ms Colakovic was threatened by her superior and claimed she had ‘expressed her satisfaction’ with the outcome of her HR complaint in September 2024.
The company alleged she demonstrated a ‘pattern of disengagement’ in meetings, was unreceptive to feedback and showed an absence of empathy.
It also claimed some employees felt unheard or misunderstood while working with her.
Ms Colakovic’s lawyers alleged StackAdapt contravened the Fair Work Act. They called for the company to withdraw its allegations, end her suspension and return her to her former position as director of sales.
StackAdapt had done none of those things in response and denied the investigation into Ms Colakovic or her suspension constituted adverse action.
Ms Colakovic had said she and her husband faced the possibility of them both being unemployed while raising their young daughter.
Arrow vowed he would stand beside his wife during the case after she supported him through his illness.
‘Now it is my turn to support Berina in her fight for what she believes is right,’ the 31-year-old said.
‘She has been, and is, amazing.’
Despite his forced retirement, the NRL allowed Arrow to take the field for South Sydney’s final two regular season matches so he could reach 100 games with the club.
He was driven on a final lap of honour of Accor Stadium before the NRL grand final between the Sydney Roosters and Newcastle Knights on October 4.
Nine days later Arrow and Ms Colakovic exchanged wedding vows for a second time during a ceremony in front of family and friends at Borgo del Carato in Sicily.